A Trucker Writes...
David, I drive a truck for a living. I own the truck and I am faced with a variety of challenges.
Ive been doing this since 1973. For all of the 70s and most of the 80s trucking seemed invisible on our roads. Then we deregulated. All of the major trucking companies went out of business. CP Transport, Johnston Terminals, Alltrans, Motorways the list goes on and on.
The days of a driver starting out in a small truck and slowly moving up to a semi with 600plus horsepower and pulling up to 60,000 plus kgs ended.Today if you can afford about $2500 you've got a class one license. A truck can be had for next to nothing because they have become worthless due to incredible competition. Trucks are now very visible. They are often found on their sides ,in ditches , and crashed all over the interior of BC.
The
Federal minister of immigration was on TV and he said that Canada needed to fill thousands of unskilled positions. The next phrase out of his mouth almost made me sick. "Yes we need thousands of truck drivers"
Hes right , anyone that wants to drive a truck can and if a lack of training, a lack of inspectors happens to cost a few lives , SO BE IT!. Dead farm workers are a cost of doing business. Dead and injured people on our roads and highways are a cost of cheap groceries. Cheap building materials , cheap you name it.
We have a third world work force and a third world mentality. Its what the country wants. CHEAP labor.
Its not just trucking . Next time you get on a plane think about the stiff competition that airlines face. Think how they have had to cut costs. Lay off mechanics. Increase time between scheduled maintenance. Keep older planes in the air longer. Yes its just a cost of doing business.
3 comments:
In the good old days if you wanted to see third world conditions you just picked up a copy of National Geographic, now these very same conditions and attitudes are to be seen daily on Knight Rd. Bob Dylan was a singer not a truck driver with a third world attitude. Oh well!!
I knew a older guy (he'd be about 60 years now). He used to be truck driver in the 1980's. He told me about making $70,000 plus per year (IN 1980!!!).
Truck driving was a skilled profession and it paid like a skilled profession.
I don't know what people are thinking when they assume that they can toss someone the keys to a huge truck/trailer and assume it is an "unskilled job"??
Then there are those who will just keep saying "it's an unskilled job" because they want to pay the bare minimum in wages and salary.
I drive a 27 ft motor home sometimes down I5 to the Sunny south. Trucks scare me and I'm not easily scared; they are so heavy and can smear me all over the blacktop even though I'm big, low mass though! This needs to get out in the Media so get trucking David! -;)
Post a Comment